When I recently finished my rewatch of Agents of Shield, which I first watched a couple of years ago, I felt quite melancholic. This TV series, which first started to air well before the Disney Plus era (though it's not that old: it's roughly contemporary to Once Upon A Time), might actually be the best Marvel series out there. Granted, I've not seen more than one episode of the acclaimed Daredevil, which seems a little too gritty for me. But I would argue that Agents of Shield trumps most of the Disney Plus TV series at least – and I'm a big defender of Marvel's Disney Plus series.
For one, Agents of Shield has the classic American TV series format of 22-23 episodes per season, with a mid-season finale (where one storyline is often wrapped up in favour of a new one). The last two seasons had "only" 13 episodes each, but that was still plenty. As a European, I'm not used to such generously long seasons: a series/season of ten or so episodes (albeit that they are mostly longer than a typical American-style episode) is considered a lot. Consequently, I was more attuned to the Disney Plus format of six to eight episodes where each episode had to carry a lot of weight than I suspect many Yanks were. Even so, I understood their hankering after the "good old days" of multi-episode TV series.
There is much to be said for the Agents of Shield format. You don't have to be overawed by every episode, or even every storyline. Something you like better will be along in a minute. Meanwhile, you can enjoy the quips and interactions of your favourite characters, whose individual story arcs get plenty of time to develop.
Because that's another thing Agents of Shield has going for it: really engaging characters, who make out a strong ensemble cast. I know I've expanded on the importance of a likeable ensemble of characters before somewhere, though I can't find the post now. Anyway, Agents of Shield is a good example of ensemble-driven storytelling done right. True, Phil Coulson's select team of agents do need some time to set out their stall in season one, but they soon grow on you, and later additions to the team work really well as well, which is important in a long-running series such as this. The likeability of the characters does have one drawback: you are seriously disappointed when an agent has to leave the team, for whatever reason. I'm still a bit peeved about a character death in season two which just seemed unnecessary.
The series is also really rewatchable, as I've now found out. Some storylines were anxiety-inducing the first time around (somber season five is still my least favourite, I think), so knowing roughly how everything plays out helps, though I had forgotten some of the plot twists. I could also acknowledge that certain turns of events that seemed to come out of nowhere first time around actually did make sense upon rewatching (That Twist in season one). Moreover, the dialogue is consistently witty. Comfort viewing at its finest.
Lastly, there is Phil Coulson himself, the leader of the special Shield team whose fates we follow. Coulson is supposed to be dead: in the first Avengers film, we saw him skewered by Loki. So how come he's still around? That's the mystery to be solved in the first season, but the main thing for the viewer is that he's there. Though he climbs in the ranks of (an admittedly shattered) Shield, and his boss Nick Fury goes underground never to be seen in the series after a few guest appearances in season one, Coulson strikes me as the ideal middle manager: gently smiling, full of self-deprecating humour, genuinely concerned for his team, tough and focused when he needs to be. The team members hype him up quite a bit as the series goes on, and it's a credit to the writing – and Clark Gregg's acting – that you totally buy into the hype as a viewer.
In Sweden, "middle manager" has become something of a term of abuse, which I can't help feel is unfair. There are shades of the Medieval argument "it's not the King's fault, it's his wretched tax collectors" about it. Many of the tough day-to-day decisions in an organisation have to be taken by the sorely tried middle management, while their lofty bosses "focus on the big picture". I don't usually have anything against said lofty bosses, mind you. Still, it's nice to see someone like Phil Coulson earn some love for the seconds-in-command out there.
